Outlaw

The appalling British writer/director Nick Love (The Football Factory, The Business) continues to commit the most heinous of crimes against the art of cinema with this vigilante thriller. Iraq war veteran Bryant (Sean Bean) finds himself the leader of an embittered group of men who have all been let down by their country and the law. There’s Gene (Danny Dyer), a yuppie who is bullied by everyone; there’s grieving idealistic barrister Cedric (Lennie James) and there’s weirdo surveillance obsessive Sandy (Rupert Friend). With the help of a disillusioned ex-detective (Bob Hoskins), this furious five begin to seek retribution from those that have wronged them. When they become national heroes, however, things begin to go awry.

Gleaned, like all Love’s films, from the shittiest of tabloid headlines and the most obvious of film references this is equal parts Death Wish, Fight Club, The Dirty Dozen and for good measure The Full Monty all wrapped up in yesterday’s copy of The Sun. In short this is the very worst type of proletariat cinema, one that pretends to report from the frontline of this age of hysteria in the voice of the common man with a mixture of generic Western clichés and laborious exposition. As with all Love’s previous films this convoluted, ridiculous, badly acted (with the exception of James) disgrace of a film will be bought in its millions on DVD in supermarkets across the land in a few months time. Behold the world we live in, and reach for the gun.

A vigilante thriller in which Iraq war veteran Bryant (Bean) finds himself the leader of an embittered group of men who have all been let down by their country and the law. Gleaned from the most sensational of tabloid headlines and featuring the most obvious of film references, this is the very worst type of proletariat…